Skin (NejiTen One Shot)

SKIN

The cover above is made be deathlykrait. Thanks a ton. You are a great friend!

DISCLAIMER- I don't own Naruto or any other characters and plot. It rightfully belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
I don't own the song also. It belongs to the artist, Rag 'n' Bone Man.
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"When I heard that sound,
When the walls came down,
I was thinking about you.
About you."

A brown haired kunoichi sat in the corner of her room. Her weapons lay discarded carelessly on her floor along with some scrolls. There were clothes thrown around her room, her blanket lay forgotten in some corner of her room. Her room was a mess just like her. All because she was thinking about him.

"When my skin grows old,
When my breath runs cold
I'll be thinking about you.
About you."

Tenten sat in a corner of her room; motionless. The temperature of her room was cold and the thin layers of clothes she called pajamas did nothing to protect her but she didn't care. No, not anymore.

"Seconds from my heart.
A bullet from the dark.
Helpless, I surrender,
Shackled by your love.
Holding me like this,
With poison on your lips.
Only when it's over,
The silence hits so hard."

She didn't want to believe it. Even after everything; even after they had won the war, she didn't want to believe that he was gone.

Neji was gone...forever.

The mere thought of it sends her into an emotional trauma. She becomes a crying, blubbering mess. It had been two weeks since Neji's funeral and Tenten couldn't seem to stop mourning over the loss of her dear teammate, her dear friend, her dear... She couldn't help it. She was shacked to the past. He was just like a poison. A poison that Tenten cannot stop drinking. She remembered it all too well. Their first and last kiss, she still remembered.

"Cause it was almost love, it was almost love.
It was almost love, it was almost love."

They had grown so close. How could he go and die just like that, even when he knew that there was something going on between them. It was almost love.

"When I run out of air to breathe,
It's your ghost I see.
I'll be thinking about you, about you.
It was almost love, it was almost..."

Tenten felt like she couldn't breathe. Her lungs had suddenly lost the capacity to suck the oxygen in. She thought she was hallucinating, but everywhere she went, everytime she turned around, the ghost of Neji won't leave her.
She knew it was an illusion but it felt so real, so real that it hurts.

"We bleed ourselves in vain.
How tragic is this game?
Turn around, I'm holding on to someone,
But the love is gone.
Carrying the load, with wings that feel like stone.
Knowing that we nearly fell so far now,
It's hard to tell."

Tenten...she was bleeding. Her heart was bleeding for someone she didn't get the chance to call her own.
How cruel was this Fate?
She would laugh if she could, remembering how he used to curse his own destiny until he met the blonde Uzumaki and changed. For better. Neji became more open. He became happy.
Yes, they were happy.

"Yeah we came so close, it was almost love.
It was almost love, it was almost love."

They had grown so fucking close. They knew what they felt for each wasn't just friendship. For Kami's sake! They had kissed. Yes they had kissed right before joining the fourth Shinobi War. Tenten thought that they could progress their relationship after the war was over.
How naive she had been?

"While I reached out for your hand,
When the walls were caving in.
When I see you on the other side,
We can try all over again."

Tenten reached out in the darkness to find her ray of light but she was tired...too tired. She knew she should let go but just because she knew didn't mean could.
Neji stood in front of her. 'It had to be a dream' she thought.
'Neji was dead.' But he looked real, he felt real. Looking into the eyes of Neji's ghost, she couldn't help but breakdown in tears again.
'Tenten...'
She could hear Neji's voice. It was official she was going insane.
'You need to let go. Tenten, you need to get a hold of yourself again. You're a strong kunoichi. I know...I know we will meet again. Someday...On the other side.'
With that the ghost of Neji faded away but when he left he took a piece of her heart. A piece which only he could fit back together again in her heart.

"I need to get myself together. I'm strong. I need to get my shit back together."

"We will meet again...someday."
Tenten whispered to herself as she stood up to face the duties she neglected for so long.

"Cause it was almost love, it was almost love.
It was almost love, it was almost love."